


A Different Kind of Magic

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Series: Sportsfest 2018 [9]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Friends, M/M, Merman Oikawa, character almost-death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-06 00:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15875172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: Hajime's annual camping trips with his family were so much better after he met Tooru, a being that was only rumored to exist. They became fast friends and maybe something more, up until the day someone spotted Tooru and threatened everything they both held dear.





	A Different Kind of Magic

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for sportsfest bonus round 1.

Hajime relished the scent of fresh air as his short, eight-year-old legs barreled through the forest trails. For one golden week each year, he and his parents would head out to the countryside to a rented house in the mountains and get away from reality. No cell phones, no laptops — their only connections were with nature and each other.

Spending time with his parents was all good and stuff, but Hajime liked it best when he got to explore on his own. He could stop to inspect every interesting plant or cool-looking rock, and nobody told him to keep moving.

This was his first year he got to look around by himself. He promised to stay away from the water and actually would, knew not to eat any plants, and even though there were no strangers, he knew not to talk to them or go anywhere with them. It was a huge responsibility to keep all that in mind, but when the tradeoff was taking in the rugged mountain forest around the house, it was worth it.

Even though he wouldn’t touch the water, Hajime ended up at the lake. He watched the new morning sun glitter on the dark, rippling water. 

He almost missed it, but he caught the motion of something emerging from the water out of the corner of his eye. Turning, Hajime’s jaw hung open in surprise when he saw a kid around his age poking his head out from behind a clump of reeds.

“Aren’t you freezing?” Hajime asked, knowing from past experience that even though the temperature of the air was a sedate 25º C, the water was ice cold.

The boy in the water dodged behind the reeds with a yelp, and Hajime frowned. He sat on the bank of the lake, head tilting in question as he tried to see the other boy again. “Sorry I scared you. I won’t bite.”

Slowly, that tawny head of hair peeked back around its hiding place and fixed Hajime with a wide-eyed gaze. “Hi,” the boy said. “I’ve never seen one of you before.”

“What?” Hajime didn’t understand the statement at all. “I’m a kid, you’re a kid. You’ve never seen another kid before?”

“Not like you.” The boy gave him a hesitant smile. “You seem like you’re the same as one of our kids, so I guess you’re okay. I’m not supposed to talk to humans. They try to kill us a lot, my dad says.” He gave a cheery wave. “I’m Tooru.”

“Iwaizumi Hajime,” he offered before Tooru’s words sunk in. Hajime gawked at him. “Not supposed to — are you saying you’re  _ not _ a human?”

Tooru shook his head. “Nope. Don’t tell anyone, though. Nobody’s supposed to know about us. If they did, they might hurt us.” 

About to ask who ‘us’ was, Tooru answered Hajime’s question before he could ask it. He gasped when a long, glistening fin poked out of the water behind Tooru. “Dude, that is so cool.”

“Legs are pretty cool, too.” Tooru glided through the water to the bank of the lake and looked up at Hajime. “You can go anywhere on land with legs?”

Shrugging, Hajime said, “Mostly, I guess. You can’t, like, walk into volcanoes, but everywhere else, if you’re big enough or strong enough, yeah.” Sitting on the edge of the bank, Hajime let his feet dangle for Tooru’s education. “How about you? Can you swim anywhere?”

“Almost.” Tooru reached out and touched one of Hajime’s toes through his sandal, giggling when Hajime poked the palm of his hand with his foot. “We have to stay in this lake. If we try to leave it and follow the river, we’ll die.”

Hajime bit his lip and sighed. “So that means I’ll only get to see you when I come here.” At Tooru’s solemn nod, Hajime explained, “We come here once a year for a week on vacation. I promise I’ll come see you every morning.”

Tooru gave him a wide, dazzling grin. “Iwa-chan is so thoughtful.”

“Thanks for the nickname. I hate it.” 

But Hajime was all smiles as they stayed there for almost two hours and talked about their lives. Tooru talked about hunting fish, and Hajime filled him in on the trials and tribulations of math homework. 

They parted reluctantly when Hajime’s belly loudly demanded breakfast, and he looked over his shoulder while he headed back to the house until he couldn’t see the lake anymore and then some.

Each morning of his stay there, Hajime made his way to the water and Tooru was always there. Soon, Hajime knew more about Tooru than he knew about his own parents, or even himself. The last morning, it was almost impossible to tear himself away.

“I’ll be here next year,” Hajime promised. “I’ll draw pictures for you so I don’t forget new stuff to tell you, okay? I’d write letters, but I know you can’t read.”

Tooru beamed at him. “Iwa-chan is so considerate. Maybe you can even teach me to read.”

“Yeah.” 

Their parting and the following year dragged by for Hajime. He made friends at his school and in his neighborhood, but nobody commanded the level of attention Tooru did. He liked them, but not the same way he did the boy in the reeds who swam as easily as Hajime breathed.

Five years and five summer vacations came and went, and each year, they both learned new things about each other and their respective cultures. Tooru learned to read Japanese, and Hajime picked up some of the rune-like written language of the mountain merfolk. 

The time was theirs alone, and Hajime’s parents long stopped questioning where he went every morning. He was always happy upon his return yet loath to come back, but no worse for wear. Their greetings soon fell to, “Good morning, Hajime.”

Their ritual continued uninterrupted until that seventh year, which was right after Hajime’s fifteenth birthday. Tooru arranged a rock along the edge of the water, and he sat on it while they chatted, with Hajime situated on the bank.

The rattle of the bushes stopped their conversation abruptly. When Hajime saw a middle-aged man with a hunting bow and matching gear emerge from the trees, he hissed to Tooru under his breath, “Hide.”

However, his warning was too late. The moment the man saw Tooru and what he was, his eyes widened in surprise and he drew back his bow string, arrow nocked, and prepared to loose it.

Hajime didn’t think, didn’t hesitate, and didn’t consider doing either as he stood in the path of the arrow. Barbed metal gouged the skin on his chest, and the impact made him reel back toward the edge of the lake. Pain screamed through his nerves, and he no longer commanded his limbs as he tumbled off the bank and into the frigid water.

Water rushed into his lungs, and he could see a dark plume of his blood as he sank, clouding the scant sunlight streaming in through the lake’s murky depth, and the last thing he remembered before the light and his consciousness dimmed was arms around him. 

“Oh, Iwa-chan, look at you,” he vaguely heard Tooru say, despite being underwater. 

As he fought for those last scraps of seconds with Tooru, his best friend for so many years, Hajime felt lips touch his own and soothe his aching heart until oblivion finally claimed him.

When he awoke, Hajime could feel the coldness of the water around him and every part of him ached, but his lungs did not struggle for air like they had when he’d fallen in. Sitting up in surprise, Hajime winced at the pain in his chest but still looked around in shock. It was a hut woven together with seaweed, and a myriad of commonplace objects were lined together along the walls like trophies.

And it was completely underwater. 

Tooru hovered next to him, tail fins flicking anxiously as Hajime absorbed it all, but what caught Hajime’s attention was the pure joy on his face. “You’re here,” he thought, eyes widening when he heard the words like he had said them aloud, surprise mounting when Tooru answered, “Of course I am.”

Hajime looked down at his body, his torso naked save for some sort of poultice over the wound on his chest, but that couldn’t hold a candle to the silvery scales of his long tail. He looked at Tooru in question, and Tooru gave him a sad smile.

“You were going to die. I couldn’t let that happen.” He maneuvered closer to Hajime and explained, “Once in every merfolk’s life, they can perform one feat of magic. What they do is up to them, and some people wait years and years to figure out what they want to do. Some never do it at all because they don’t want to waste it and eventually they die before they have the chance.”

Reaching up to cup Tooru’s cheek, Hajime wondered if it was possible to cry underwater. He wanted to, because he finally knew exactly how he was still alive, as well as what Tooru had given up to make it happen.

His heart was full when their mouths pressed together like they had done while he was dying, but the feeling was different. This was a different sort of magic altogether, and it was something only the two of them could know.

“I love you, Iwa-chan,” Tooru projected to him. “I couldn’t let him hurt you. I’m sorry.” He looked away. “Your parents will be worried, but you can’t tell them where you are. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know.” He smiled at Tooru. “Thank you.” Hajime brought Tooru’s trembling fingers to his lips. “At least we don’t have to worry about me leaving.”

“Oh, Iwa-chan.” Tooru hugged him fiercely. “I’ll make sure you have a good life here. I promise. I know you’ll miss your parents and your other life, but this life will be better than none at all.”

Hajime pulled away and brushed a thumb along Tooru’s bottom lip, quirking a smile. “Of course I’ll be happy. I have you.”

Tooru beamed, and Hajime’s heart filled at the sight.


End file.
